With college basketball winding down, it's hard for me not to start thinking about the National Basketball Association, which is just more than a week away from its playoffs. While the only interest I have in the NBA right now lies with my beloved Bucks, I am even more interested in the NBA draft set to take place in July, that could very well see one of the best Badgers of all time make the leap from the collegiate game to the pros.
Within the next couple months, Devin Harris will have the daunting task of deciding whether to forgo his final season of eligibility at UW or declare himself ready to take on the best in the game of basketball. While many factors surrounding him will undoubtedly figure into his decision, in the end the call will be made by Devin and his family.
One of the major factors that will figure into Devin's thought process will be his expected draft standing and whether or not he'll be a guaranteed lottery pick. The biggest impact on his standing, as is the case for many college players in recent years, is the massive influx of high school players thinking they are capable to go pro as well.
While, for some odd reason, pro scouts are willing to bet their bottom dollar on an unproven, potentially outstanding player, many are reluctant to put that same confidence in proven, mature and ready ballers like a Devin Harris or a Jameer Nelson or even an Emeka Okafer, for that matter.
While the latter two are clearly the best two in college basketball this season and both will likely go pro next season, neither has been mentioned as a No. 1 overall pick and both have been listed as picks only second or third to the high school point guard out of New York.
Remember, for every Kobe Bryant or Kevin Garnett in the league, there are 10-20 high schoolers that are busts and completely ruin their basketball careers. Yes, LeBron James is one to be included with the exceptions, but for every LeBron (as rare and few as that is) there is a Chris Anstey, Deshawn Stevenson or Darius Miles.
There is a reason why many of you dislike professional basketball now and that's solely because the quality of play is down. The quality of play is down because of all the youngsters the league attracts and desires. So many organizations and teams draft players for the future, but what they fail to remember is that the fan wants results and players that can perform today.
So what am I trying to say here?
I'm saying that the NBA needs to set an age limit of at least 20 years if it wants to maintain a successful business.
While NBA tends to only draft big, tall young guns, the trend could be changing come this year's draft if the high schooler from the Bronx gets the nod from scouts.
Without an age limit, what is going to stop the league from considering to draft a freshman in high school that may be the best in the nation at the time, or even a middle schooler for that matter?
In a day and age where high school players continue to skip college, feed off that false sense of hope in making it big in the pros and in turn hurt the chances of proven players in college getting drafted, it's time to set an age limit in order to prevent something as ridiculous as a Freddy Ado going professional in soccer at age 14.
